Would you eat food made by a 3D printer?

A 3D food printer sounds like something out of Star Trek, you press a button, a five-course meal is ready on the table. Work on 3D food printing has also been taking place at TNO for years, but the hospitality industry still sees it like science fiction.

TNO scientist Kjeld van Bommel presented the 3D food printer on Monday at the Food Inspiration Days in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The 3D food printer lays down liquid versions of foods, layer by layer, to build up edible meals. The hall is filled with entrepreneurs from the hospitality industry.

(Image credit: OmroepBrabant)

"We need each other," said van Bommel. This is no longer science fiction. Of course the 3D printer can not make complex dishes, but it can already bring your own personalized pastry in your plate.

Top chef Sergio Herman of three-star restaurant Oud-Sluis in Zeeland was impressed by the new technologies. "The way you create the forms of food is fantastic! The taste is obviously something you still need to improve, I guess ..." the chef smiles - he has some difficulty to swallow a 3D printed pastry.

"Well, we're not there yet," says van Bommel enthusiastically. "But I hope to attract as many catering entrepreneurs as possible on this Food Inspiration Days, to experiment with 3D Food Printer together with TNO."

Van Bommel believes that in five years, companies such as Unilever and Philips will come up with such a device and it might cost only a few hundred euros.

The market for fabricated 3D printed food should begin with those who need it the most. Huntington's Disease, Alzheimer's, and other like patients with swallowing difficulties would purchase food produced this way now. AARP recently ran a short paragraph in their newsletter which prompted this immediate search for information. We need this now!

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